The New Hacker's Dictionary by Eric S. Raymond (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📖

effect when read, and/or to be

sung late at night at SF conventions. There is a flourishing subgenre

of these called `computer filks', written by hackers and often

containing rather sophisticated technical humor. See [5087]double

bucky for an example. Compare [5088]grilf, [5089]hing, [5090]pr0n, and

[5091]newsfroup.

Node:film at 11, Next:[5092]filter, Previous:[5093]filk, Up:[5094]= F

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film at 11

[MIT: in parody of TV newscasters] 1. Used in conversation to announce

ordinary events, with a sarcastic implication that these events are

earth-shattering. "[5095]ITS crashes; film at 11." "Bug found in

scheduler; film at 11." 2. Also widely used outside MIT to indicate

that additional information will be available at some future time,

without the implication of anything particularly ordinary about the

referenced event. For example, "The mail file server died this

morning; we found garbage all over the root directory. Film at 11."

would indicate that a major failure had occurred but that the people

working on it have no additional information about it as yet; use of

the phrase in this way suggests gently that the problem is liable to

be fixed more quickly if the people doing the fixing can spend time

doing the fixing rather than responding to questions, the answers to

which will appear on the normal "11:00 news", if people will just be

patient.

The variant "MPEGs at 11" has recently been cited (MPEG is a

digital-video format.)

Node:filter, Next:[5096]Finagle's Law, Previous:[5097]film at 11,

Up:[5098]= F =

filter n.

[very common; orig. [5099]Unix, now also in [5100]MS-DOS] A program

that processes an input data stream into an output data stream in some

well-defined way, and does no I/O to anywhere else except possibly on

error conditions; one designed to be used as a stage in a `pipeline'

(see [5101]plumbing). Compare [5102]sponge.

Node:Finagle's Law, Next:[5103]fine, Previous:[5104]filter, Up:[5105]=

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Finagle's Law n.

The generalized or `folk' version of [5106]Murphy's Law, fully named

"Finagle's Law of Dynamic Negatives" and usually rendered "Anything

that can go wrong, will". One variant favored among hackers is "The

perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum" (but see also

[5107]Hanlon's Razor). The label `Finagle's Law' was popularized by SF

author Larry Niven in several stories depicting a frontier culture of

asteroid miners; this `Belter' culture professed a religion and/or

running joke involving the worship of the dread god Finagle and his

mad prophet Murphy. Some technical and scientific cultures (e.g.,

paleontologists) know it under the name `Sod's Law'; this usage may be

more common in Great Britain.

Node:fine, Next:[5108]finger, Previous:[5109]Finagle's Law, Up:[5110]=

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fine adj.

[WPI] Good, but not good enough to be [5111]cuspy. The word `fine' is

used elsewhere, of course, but without the implicit comparison to the

higher level implied by [5112]cuspy.

Node:finger, Next:[5113]finger trouble, Previous:[5114]fine,

Up:[5115]= F =

finger

[WAITS, via BSD Unix] 1. n. A program that displays information about

a particular user or all users logged on the system, or a remote

system. Typically shows full name, last login time, idle time,

terminal line, and terminal location (where applicable). May also

display a [5116]plan file left by the user (see also [5117]Hacking X

for Y). 2. vt. To apply finger to a username. 3. vt. By extension, to

check a human's current state by any means. "Foodp?" "T!" "OK, finger

Lisa and see if she's idle." 4. Any picture (composed of ASCII

characters) depicting `the finger'. Originally a humorous component of

one's plan file to deter the curious fingerer (sense 2), it has

entered the arsenal of some [5118]flamers.

Node:finger trouble, Next:[5119]finger-pointing syndrome,

Previous:[5120]finger, Up:[5121]= F =

finger trouble n.

Mistyping, typos, or generalized keyboard incompetence (this is

surprisingly common among hackers, given the amount of time they spend

at keyboards). "I keep putting colons at the end of statements instead

of semicolons", "Finger trouble again, eh?".

Node:finger-pointing syndrome, Next:[5122]finn, Previous:[5123]finger

trouble, Up:[5124]= F =

finger-pointing syndrome n.

All-too-frequent result of bugs, esp. in new or experimental

configurations. The hardware vendor points a finger at the software.

The software vendor points a finger at the hardware. All the poor

users get is the finger.

Node:finn, Next:[5125]firebottle, Previous:[5126]finger-pointing

syndrome, Up:[5127]= F =

finn v.

[IRC] To pull rank on somebody based on the amount of time one has

spent on [5128]IRC. The term derives from the fact that IRC was

originally written in Finland in 1987. There may be some influence

from the `Finn' character in William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel

"Count Zero", who at one point says to another (much younger)

character "I have a pair of shoes older than you are, so shut up!"

Node:firebottle, Next:[5129]firefighting, Previous:[5130]finn,

Up:[5131]= F =

firebottle n.obs.

A large, primitive, power-hungry active electrical device, similar in

function to a FET but constructed out of glass, metal, and vacuum.

Characterized by high cost, low density, low reliability,

high-temperature operation, and high power dissipation. Sometimes

mistakenly called a tube' in the U.S. or avalve' in England;

another hackish term is [5132]glassfet.

Node:firefighting, Next:[5133]firehose syndrome,

Previous:[5134]firebottle, Up:[5135]= F =

firefighting n.

What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden operational problems.

An opposite of hacking. "Been hacking your new newsreader?" "No, a

power glitch hosed the network and I spent the whole afternoon

fighting fires." 2. The act of throwing lots of manpower and late

nights at a project, esp. to get it out before deadline. See also

[5136]gang bang, [5137]Mongolian Hordes technique; however, the term

`firefighting' connotes that the effort is going into chasing bugs

rather than adding features.

Node:firehose syndrome, Next:[5138]firewall code,

Previous:[5139]firefighting, Up:[5140]= F =

firehose syndrome n.

In mainstream folklore it is observed that trying to drink from a

firehose can be a good way to rip your lips off. On computer networks,

the absence or failure of flow control mechanisms can lead to

situations in which the sending system sprays a massive flood of

packets at an unfortunate receiving system, more than it can handle.

Compare [5141]overrun, [5142]buffer overflow.

Node:firewall code, Next:[5143]firewall machine,

Previous:[5144]firehose syndrome, Up:[5145]= F =

firewall code n.

The code you put in a system (say, a telephone switch) to make sure

that the users can't do any damage. Since users always want to be able

to do everything but never want to suffer for any mistakes, the

construction of a firewall is a question not only of defensive coding

but also of interface presentation, so that users don't even get

curious about those corners of a system where they can burn

themselves. 2. Any sanity check inserted to catch a [5146]can't happen

error. Wise programmers often change code to fix a bug twice: once to

fix the bug, and once to insert a firewall which would have arrested

the bug before it did quite as much damage.

Node:firewall machine, Next:[5147]fireworks mode,

Previous:[5148]firewall code, Up:[5149]= F =

firewall machine n.

A dedicated gateway machine with special security precautions on it,

used to service outside network connections and dial-in lines. The

idea is to protect a cluster of more loosely administered machines

hidden behind it from [5150]crackers. The typical firewall is an

inexpensive micro-based Unix box kept clean of critical data, with a

bunch of modems and public network ports on it but just one carefully

watched connection back to the rest of the cluster. The special

precautions may include threat monitoring, callback, and even a

complete [5151]iron box keyable to particular incoming IDs or activity

patterns. Syn. [5152]flytrap, [5153]Venus flytrap.

[When first coined in the mid-1980s this term was pure jargon. Now

(1999) it is techspeak, and has been retained only as an example of

uptake --ESR]

Node:fireworks mode, Next:[5154]firmware, Previous:[5155]firewall

machine, Up:[5156]= F =

fireworks mode n.

The mode a machine is sometimes said to be in when it is performing

a [5157]crash and burn operation. 2. There is (or was) a more specific

meaning of this term in the Amiga community. The word fireworks

described the effects of a particularly serious crash which prevented

the video pointer(s) from getting reset at the start of the vertical

blank. This caused the DAC to scroll through the entire contents of

CHIP (video or video+CPU) memory. Since each bit plane would scroll

separately this was quite a spectacular effect.

Node:firmware, Next:[5158]firmy, Previous:[5159]fireworks mode,

Up:[5160]= F =

firmware /ferm'weir/ n.

Embedded software contained in EPROM or flash memory. It isn't quite

hardware, but at least doesn't have to be loaded from a disk like

regular software. Hacker usage differs from straight techspeak in that

hackers don't normally apply it to stuff that you can't possibly get

at, such as the program that runs a pocket calculator. Instead, it

implies that the firmware could be changed, even if doing so would

mean opening a box and plugging in a new chip. A computer's BIOS is

the classic example, although nowadays there is firmware in disk

controllers, modems, video cards and even CD-ROM drives.

Node:firmy, Next:[5161]fish, Previous:[5162]firmware, Up:[5163]= F =

firmy /fer'mee/ n.

Syn. [5164]stiffy (a 3.5-inch floppy disk).

Node:fish, Next:[5165]FISH queue, Previous:[5166]firmy, Up:[5167]= F =

fish n.

[Adelaide University, Australia] 1. Another [5168]metasyntactic

variable. See [5169]foo. Derived originally from the Monty Python skit

in the middle of "The Meaning of Life" entitled "Find the Fish". 2. A

pun for `microfiche'. A microfiche file cabinet may be referred to as

a `fish tank'.

Node:FISH queue, Next:[5170]FITNR, Previous:[5171]fish, Up:[5172]= F =

FISH queue n.

[acronym, by analogy with FIFO (First In, First Out)] `First In, Still

Here'. A joking way of pointing out that processing of a particular

sequence of events or requests has stopped dead. Also `FISH mode' and

`FISHnet'; the latter may be applied to any network that is running

really slowly or exhibiting extreme flakiness.

Node:FITNR, Next:[5173]fix, Previous:[5174]FISH queue, Up:[5175]= F =

FITNR // adj.

[Thinking Machines, Inc.] Fixed In The Next Release. A written-only

notation attached to bug reports. Often wishful thinking.

Node:fix, Next:[5176]FIXME, Previous:[5177]FITNR, Up:[5178]= F =

fix n.,v.

What one does when a problem has been reported too many times to be

ignored.

Node:FIXME, Next:[5179]flag, Previous:[5180]fix, Up:[5181]= F =

FIXME imp.

[common] A standard tag often put in C comments near a piece of code

that needs work. The point of doing so is that a grep or a similar

pattern-matching tool can find all such places quickly.

/ FIXME: note this is common in [5182]GNU code. /

Compare [5183]XXX.

Node:flag, Next:[5184]flag day, Previous:[5185]FIXME, Up:[5186]= F =

flag n.

[very common] A variable or quantity that can take on one of two

values; a bit, particularly one that is used to indicate one of two

outcomes or is used to control which of two things is to be done.

"This flag controls whether to clear the screen before printing the

message." "The program status word contains several flag bits." Used

of humans analogously to [5187]bit. See also [5188]hidden flag,

[5189]mode bit.

Node:flag day, Next:[5190]flaky, Previous:[5191]flag, Up:[5192]= F =

flag day n.

A software change that is neither forward- nor backward-compatible,

and which is costly to make and costly to reverse. "Can we install

that without causing a flag day for all users?" This term has nothing

to do with the use of the word [5193]flag to mean a variable that has

two values. It came into use when a massive change was made to the

[5194]Multics timesharing system to convert from the short-lived 1965

version of the ASCII code to the 1967 version (in draft at the time);

this was scheduled for Flag Day (a U.S. holiday), June 14, 1966. The

actual change moved the code point for the ASCII newline character;

this required that all of the Multics source code, documentation, and

device drivers be changed simultaneously. See also [5195]backward

combatability.

Node:flaky, Next:[5196]flamage, Previous:[5197]flag day, Up:[5198]= F

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flaky adj.

(var sp. `flakey') Subject to frequent [5199]lossage. This use is of

course related to the common slang use of the word to describe a

person as eccentric, crazy, or just unreliable. A system that is flaky